Latin America - China/Korea - India/South Asia - Africa - Japan

- Middle East - Southeast Asia

Latin America:

Alegria, Malin.  Sofi Mendoza’s Guide to Getting Lost in Mexico.  291 p.

          When Southern California high school senior Sofi Mendoza lies to her parents and crosses the border for a weekend party, she has no idea that she will get stuck in a Mexican village with family she has never met before, unable to return to the United States and the easy life she knew.

Alvarez, Julia. Before We Were Free. 163 p.

            In the early 1960s in the Dominican Republic, twelve-year-old Anita learns that her family is involved in the underground movement to end the bloody rule of the dictator, General Trujillo.

Alvarez, Julia.  Saving the World.  368 p.

            Latina novelist Alma Huebner begs off joining her husband on a humanitarian mission to the Dominican Republic to work on her next book, and finds herself becoming obsessed with the life of her subject--a woman who hand-picked a group of orphan boys to serve as live carriers of the small pox virus in order to provide Spaniard Francisco Xavier Balmis a ready supply of vaccine with which to inoculate the populations of Spain's American colonies in 1803.

Berry, James.  Ajeemah and his son. 83p.

          A father and his eighteen-year-old son are each affected differently by their experiences as slaves in Jamaica in the early nineteenth century.

Bondoux, Anne-Laure. The Killer’s Tears.  162 p.

            A young boy, Paolo, and the man who murdered his parents, Angel, gradually become like father and son as they live and work together on the remote Chilean farm where Paolo was born.

Casta-Neda, Omar.  Imaging Isabel. 200 p.

          Isabel, a newly married fifteen-year-old who lives in a traditional Mayan village, is invited to join a government-run teacher training program, and is thrown into the turbulent political reality of contemporary Guatemala.

Ellis, Deborah.  I am a Taxi.  204 p.

            In order to make more money for his family, twelve-year-old Diego, who lives with his imprisoned mother in the San Sebastian Women's Prison in Cochabamba, Bolivia, leaves his job as an errand boy and begins working as part of an illegal cocaine operation.

Haycak, Cara.  Red Palms.   327 p.

            When fourteen-year-old Benita's wealthy family goes bankrupt as a result of the Depression, they go from their luxurious life in Guayaquil, Ecuador to a primitive island, with the wild scheme of starting a coconut plantation.

Hill, Laban Carrick.  Casa Azul: An Encounter with Frida Kahlo.  143 p.

          In 1940, after traveling from their country village to Mexico City to find their mother, fourteen-year-old Maria and her younger brother Victor are befriended by the artist Frida Kahlo and the talking animals and household objects that inhabit her home.

McColley, Kevin.  The Walls of Pedro Garcia.  100p.

          Twelve-year-old Pedro, who works with his grandfather on the estate of a rich man in Mexico, seeks to prove his strength and manhood by forcing a confrontation with the head groundsman

Menchu, Rigoberta.  I, Rigoberta Menchu: an Indian woman in Guatemala. 247 p.

          Recounts the life of Rigoberta Menchu, a young Guatemalan peasant woman who turned to catechist work as an expression of political revolt and religious commitment after her brother and parents were murdered by the Guatemalan military; and sheds light on everyday life in Latin America's Indian communities.

Merino, Jose Maria.  Beyond the Ancient Cities.  209 p.

          Miguel, the son of a conquistador, embarks on a perilous journey to Panama with his godfather.

Mikaelsen, Ben. Tree Girl. 225 p.

          When, protected by the branches of one of the trees she loves to climb, Gabriela witnesses the destruction of her Mayan village and the murder of nearly all its inhabitants, she vows never to climb again until, after she and her traumatized sister find safety in a Mexican refugee camp, she realizes that only by climbing and facing their fears can she and her sister hope to have a future.

Peet, Mal.  Keeper.  225 p.

South American journalist Paul Faustino begins his interview with World Cup Soccer star El Gato and learns a fantastic story of a young, lonely boy growing up in the middle of a rain forest who wandered upon a mysterious soccer field and an apparition that appeared to him daily.

Peet, Mal. The Penalty. 262p.

          Sports reporter Paul Faustino reluctantly investigates the disappearance of a young soccer star from San Juan who hasn't been seen since he missed a winning penalty kick during a big game, and unknowingly the journalist becomes entangled in a world of slavery and the occult.

Powell, Patricia.  The Pagoda.  245 p.

          Lowe, an immigrant who fled China for Jamaica years earlier, writes to his long-estranged daughter in an attempt to tell her the truth about what happened during their years apart.

Saldana, Jr., Rene.  The Jumping Tree.   181 p.

          Rey, a Mexican American living with his close-knit family in a Texas town near the Mexican border, describes his transition from boy to young man.

Santiago, Esmeralda. When I Was Puerto Rican. 270 p.

Memoirs of the author's childhood and youth in Puerto Rico and New York City.

Schmidt, C.A. Useful Fools. 262 p.

          Fifteen-year-old Peruvian boy, whose mother runs a clinic for poor village children, becomes caught up in the war after Senderistas bomb the clinic, killing his mother and throwing his family into turmoil.

China/Korea:

Bell, William.  Forbidden City: a Novel. 199 p.

          Fictional account of the events of Tiananmen Square through the eyes of a 17 year old American.

Bosse, Malcolm.  The Examination.  296 p.

          Fifteen-year-old Hong and his older brother Chen face famine, flood, pirates, and jealous rivals on their journey through fifteenth century China as Chen pursues his calling as a scholar and Hong becomes involved with a secret society known as the White Lotus.

Chang, Pang-Mei Natasha. Bound Feet & Western Dress. 215 p.

            Tells the story of the author's great-aunt Chang Yu-i, a woman who challenged Chinese tradition by refusing to have her feet bound, marrying and divorcing preeminent poet Hsu Chih-mo, and running the Shanghai Women's Savings Bank during the 1930s.

Chen, Da. Brothers.  418 p.

          Half brothers Tan and Shento grow up in different parts of China without knowing about the existence of the other, until their desires and love for the same woman bring them together.

Chen, Da.  Wandering Warrior.  322 p.

          Eleven-year-old Luka, destined to become the future emperor of China, is trained in the ways of the kung fu wandering warriors by the wise monk Atami.

Choi, Sook Nyul. A Year of Impossible Good-byes.  171 p.

            A young Korean girl survives the oppressive Japanese and Russian occupation of North Korea during the 1940s, to later escape to freedom in South Korea.

Compestine, Ying Chang. Revolution Is Not a Dinner Party. 248.

          Maps on endpapers. Starting in 1972 when she is nine years old, Ling, the daughter of two doctors, struggles to make sense of the communists' Cultural Revolution, which empties stores of food, homes of appliances deemed "bourgeois," and people of laughter.

Cutter, Leah R.  Paper Mage.  343 p.

          Xiao Yen, having defied society to become a gifted paper mage in Tang Dynasty, China, embarks on a great adventure through the Middle Kingdom where she meets a goddess who persuades Xiao to use her magical skills to defeat a barbaric warlord.

Dai, Fan.  Butterfly Lovers: A Tale of the Chinese Romeo and Juliet.  251 p.

          A beautiful girl disguises herself as a man and lives with a male scholar for three years before her passion for the young man gets the best of her.

Evans, Karin. The Lost Daughters of China. 261 p.

            Karin Evans chronicles her family's quest to adopt a young Chinese girl and examines why many Chinese girls are abandoned by their birth families shortly after they are born.

Delosle. Guy.  Pyongyang.  176 p.

          Documents the two months French animator, Guy Delisle spent overseeing cartoon production in North Korea, where he records everything from the statues and portraits of dictators Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il to the ordinary citizens of the country.

Jin, Ha.  Ocean of Words. 205 p.

          A collection of stories in which the author explores the predicament of the Chinese soldiers guarding the chilly border between Russia and China in the early 1970s, with the two countries poised on the brink of war.

Jin, Ha.  Waiting.  308 p.

          Year after year, medical doctor Lin Kong waits for his family-chosen traditional wife to finally give him a divorce so that he can be with the educated and modern Manna Wu.

Kim, Helen.  The Long Season of Rain.  190 p.

          When an orphan boy comes to live with her family, eleven-year-old Junehee begins to realize that the demands placed on Korean women can destroy their lives.

McCaughrean, Geraldine.  The Kite Rider: a novel. 272 p.

          In thirteenth-century China, after trying to save his widowed mother from a horrendous second marriage, twelve-year-old Haoyou has life-changing adventures when he takes to the sky as a circus kite rider and ends up meeting the great Mongol ruler Kublai Khan.

Mah, Adeline Yen.  Chinese Cinderella and the Secret Dragon Society.  223 p.

          During the Japanese occupation of parts of China, twelve-year-old Ye Xian is thrown out of her father's and stepmother's home, joins a martial arts group, and tries to help her aunt and the Americans in their struggle against the Japanese invaders. Includes historical notes.

Min, Anchee.  Becoming Madame Mao. 337 p.

          The author takes on the identity of Madame Mao, wife of Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong, presenting her as insecure and in need of love instead of simply vindictive and cruel, and uses historical facts, characters, and documents to tell her story.

Min, Anchee.  Empress Orchid.  336 p.

          Tzu Hsi, known as Orchid, enters China’s Forbidden City at the age of seventeen to serve as a concubine for the Emperor, and when she bears the monarch a son, she is elevated to the rank of Empress, where she struggles to maintain her position and the right to raise her own child.

Min, Anchee.  The Last Empress.  306 p.

            Presents an historical novel about China's Empress Tzu Hsi, who ruled China for nearly fifty years in the second half of the nineteenth century amidst threats by Japan, Russia, France, and England as well as insurgents within her own country.

Min, Anchee.  Wild Ginger.  217 p.

          Wild Ginger, subjected to the abuse of her classmates because of her half-French heritage, becomes a national hero of the Cultural Revolution when an act of bravery brings her to the attention of Chairman Mao, but her rise in the Party is threatened when she falls in love with Evergreen, a handsome local boy who is head of the Red Guards.

Min, Anchee. Katherine: a novel. 241 p.

          Narrated by a 29-year-old Chinese woman named Zebra whose family is poor and disgraced in the eyes of the Party, the story line traces the upheavals sparked by the appearance in the wake of the Cultural Revolution of a vibrant American teacher of English.

Namioka, Lensey.  Ties That Bind, Ties that Break: a Novel.  154 p.

          Ailin's life takes a different turn when she defies the traditions of upper class Chinese society by refusing to have her feet bound.

Namioka, Lensey. April and the Dragon Lady. 214 p.

          Feeling confined by the traditional Chinese family attitudes of her strong-willed, manipulative grandmother, sixteen-year-old April Chen fights for her independence.

Napoli, Donna Jo.  Bound.  186 p.

          In a novel based on Chinese Cinderella tales, fourteen-year-old stepchild Xing-Xing endures a life of neglect and servitude, as her stepmother cruelly mutilates her own child's feet so that she alone might marry well.

Park, Linda Sue.  A Single Shard.  152 p.

          Tree-ear, a thirteen-year-old orphan in medieval Korea, lives under a bridge in a potters' village, and longs to learn how to throw the delicate celadon ceramics himself.

Park, Linda Sue.  When My Name was Keoko.  199 p.

          With national pride and occasional fear, a brother and sister face the increasingly oppressive occupation of Korea by Japan during World War II, which threatens to suppress Korean culture entirely.

Paterson, Katherine.  Rebels of a Heavenly Kingdom.  229 p.

          Wang Lee is rescued from slavery by a girl who introduces him to a secret society dedicated to the overthrow of the Manchu government.

Ruby, Lois.  Shanghai Shadows.  282 p.

          From 1939 to 1945, a Jewish family struggles to survive in occupied China; young Ilse by remaining optimistic, her older brother by joining a resistance movement, her mother by maintaining connections to the past, and her father by playing the violin that had been his livelihood.

See, Lisa. Snow Flower and The Secret.  258 p.

          Friends Snow Flower and Lily find solace in their bond as they face isolation, arranged marriages, loss, and motherhood in nineteenth-century China.

Sijie, Dai.  Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstreess.  184 p.

          Two Chinese boys sent to a small village for re-education fall in love with a local girl and the small hoard of classic books they discover.

Stone, Jeff.  Monkey. 189 p.

          After soldiers of the new Emperor, led by Ying, engage in a fierce battle with the warrior-monks, Malao "the monkey" and his brothers rely on the ancient arts to help set things right.

Stone, Jeff.  Snake. 193 p.

With the temple and Grandmaster now gone, twelve-year-old Seh, a snake-style master, joins a bandit gang and meets a mysterious woman whose name means Cobra, while trying to stay ahead of the vengeful Ying.

Stone, Jeff.  Tiger. 196 p.

          Five young warrior-monk brothers survive an insurrection and must use the ancient arts to avenge their Grandmaster.

Tan, Amy. The Bonesetter’s Daughter. 368 p.

            San Francisco ghostwriter Ruth Young finally begins to understand her Alzheimer's-afflicted mother LuLing's preoccupation with ghosts and curses when she reads Luling's writings of her dark backwoods childhood in 1920s China--where LuLing's mute, disfigured nursemaid committed suicide, and a nearby cave held what may have been the bones of the lost ancient hominid Peking Man.

Tschinag, Galsan.  The Blue Sky: A Novel.  201 p.

            A young boy, one of the Tuvan sheepherding people of Mongolia, begins to doubt the traditional belief that the sky is a sheltering force when the communist regime begins to push a program of societal homogenization in the 1940s, while closer to home, his siblings go off to boarding school, he loses his beloved grandmother, and his dog is poisoned.

Tsukiyama, Gail. Women of the Silk. 278 p.

            Relates the story of two women who struggle for economic independence in silk work in 1926 in a small village in China.

Whitesel, Cheryl Aylward.  Rebel: A Tibetan Odyssey.  190 p.

          Although he rebels against life in the Tibetan Buddhist monastery where he had been sent, fourteen-year-old Thunder comes to some amazing realizations about himself.

Williams, Susan.  Wind Rider. 309 p.
          Fern, a teenager living in 4000 B.C., defies the expectations of her people by displaying a unique and new ability to tame horses and by also questioning many of the traditional activities of women. – Ancient Asia

Wulffson, Don L.  The Golden Rat. 168 p.

            When sixteen-year-old Baoliu is wrongfully accused of murdering his stepmother, his father pays someone else to die in his place, leaving Baoliu to fend for himself on the streets of twelfth-century China.

Yep, Laurence.  The Serpent’s Children.  277 p.

          In 19th century China, Cassia proves her strength by trying to keep her troubled family together.

India/South Asia:

Anthony, Lawrence.  Babylon’s Ark.  245 p.

          Chronicles the history of the Baghdad Zoo from the coalition's invasion of Iraq in 2003 through 2006, addressing how the attack had destroyed the grounds and killed many animals and discussing how the efforts of zoo personnel, American soldiers, and conservationist Anthony Lawrence helped reestablish the park.

Anthony, Michael.  Green Days by the River.  198 p.

            Fifteen-year-old Shell, on the verge of adulthood, is charmed by Rosalie, an attractive Indian girl, and develops a relationship with her father, but he is undecided about what he really wants for his life.

Antieau, Kim.  Broken Moon.  183 p.

            When her little brother is kidnapped and taken from Pakistan to race camels in the desert, eighteen-year-old Nadira overcomes her own past abuse and, dressed as a boy and armed with knowledge of the powerful storytelling of the legendary Scheherazade, is determined to find and rescue him.

Ellis, Deborah. The Breadwinner. 170 p.

            Because the Taliban rulers of Kabul, Afghanistan, impose strict limitations on women's freedom and behavior, eleven-year-old Parvana must disguise herself as a boy so that her family can survive after her father's arrest.

Ellis, Deborah. Parvana’s Journey. 197 p.

            Sequel to: The breadwinner. With Kabul in ruins from the Taliban's control, Parvana dresses as a boy and sets out to leave Afghanistan in search of her family.

Ellis, Deborah. Mud City. 162 p.

            The story of fourteen-year-old Shauzia, who escaped from Kabul, Afghanistan and who is unhappy with her life as a refugee in a camp in Pakistan.

Fletcher, Susan.  Alphabet of Dreams.  294 p.

            Exiled from their home country because of their father's plot against King Phraates, fourteen-year-old Mitra and five-year-old Babak, who are of royal descent, live as beggars until it is discovered that the boy can tell the future through his dreams, and the magus Melchoir and two other Zoroastrian priests take the children with them to Bethlehem to witness the coming of a new king.

Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. 372 p.

          Amir, haunted by his betrayal of Hassan, the son of his father's servant and a childhood friend, returns to Kabul as an adult after he learns Hassan has been killed, in an attempt to redeem himself by rescuing Hassan's son from a life of slavery to a Taliban official.

Hosseini, Khaled. A Thousand Splendid Suns.  367 p.

            A novel set against the three decades of Afghanistan's history shaped by Soviet occupation, civil war, and the Taliban, which tells the stories of two women, Mariam and Laila, who grow close despite their nineteen-year age difference and initial rivalry as they suffer at the hand of a common enemy: their abusive husband.

Khadra, Yasmina. The Sirens of Baghdad. 307 p.

            Translation of: Les sirenes de Bagdad. An Iraqi student, who is forced by United States troops to leave his university, witnesses atrocities committed by American soldiers and travels to Baghdad to join a radical group.

Latifa. My Forbidden Face: growing up under the Taliban. 202 p.

            Latifa, a young woman who was sixteen in 1996 when the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan, tells about her family's experiences under the repressive regime, focusing on the lives of women and girls who were abruptly denied the freedom to work, go to school, or even leave their homes without a male escort.

McCormick, Patricia.  Sold. 263 p.

          A novel in vignettes, in which Lakshmi, a thirteen-year-old girl from Nepal, is sold into prostitution in India.

Markandaya, Kamala.  Nectar in the Sieve.  190 p.

            Portrays the life of a peasant woman in a primitive village in India who was married as a child bride to a tenant farmer, raised children, fought poverty and disaster, and dealt with the rapidly changing times.

Nasrin, Taslima.  Meyebela: my Bengali girlhood. 303 p.

          The author chronicles her life from birth to the age of fourteen, discussing the realities of being female in the Islamic country of Bangladesh.

Rall, Ted.  To Afghanistan and Back.  126 p.

          New York cartoonist and columnist Ted Rall discusses his firsthand experiences in Afghanistan and other countries in the region before and after September 11, 2001, criticizing U.S. military actions there and presenting a graphic novel about the war.

Selvadurai, Shyam.  Swimming in the Monsoon Sea.  274 p.

          In 1980 Sri Lanka, fourteen-year-old Amrith's uneventful summer, filled with typing lessons and hopes of a part in his school's production of "Othello," is turned upside down when he falls in love with a boy.

Shamsie, Kamila.  Broken Verses.   338 p.

          While working at Pakistan's first independent television station, Aasmani encounters an old friend of her mother's who gives Aasmani a letter written in a code used by her missing mother and an exiled poet, leading Aasmani on a search for her past.

Sheth, Kasmira.  Koyal Dark, Mango Sweet. 

          Growing up with her family in Mumbai, India , sixteen-year-old Jeeta disagrees with much of her mother's traditional advice about how to live her life and tries to be more modern and independent.

Staples, Suzanne Fisher. Haveli.  259 p.

Having relented to the ways of her people in Pakistan and married the rich older man to whom she was pledged against her will, Shabanu is now the victim of his family's blood feud and the malice of his other wives.

Staples, Suzanne Fisher.  Under the Persimmon Tree.  270 p.

          A young Afghan girl, Najmah, befriends an American woman, Nusrat in Peshawar, Pakistan, after Najmah flees her native Afghanistan during the 2001 war; and together they begin a long journey to located their missing loved ones after the war ends.

Vijayaraghavan, Vneeta.  Motherland: A Novel.  231 p.

          An American teenager spends the summer with her relatives in southern India and gains new insight into her past, her family and her heritage. 

Whelan, Gloria.  Homeless Bird. 

          When thirteen-year-old Koly enters into an ill-fated arranged marriage, she must either suffer a destiny dictated by India’s tradition or find the courage to oppose it.

Zoya. Zoya’s Story: an Afghan woman’s struggle for freedom. 235 p.

          A young Afghani woman who grew up during the wars of the 1980s and 1990s and the rise of the Taliban describes the terror she has witnessed in her homeland and the work she has done to change other women's fates through the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA).

Africa:

Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. Half of a Yellow Sun. 435 p.

            The lives of Ugwu, a thirteen-year-old houseboy, Olanna, the mistress of the professor the boy works for, and Richard, a Englishman in love with the woman's sister, are endangered during the political unrest resulting from the forming of the independent nation of Biafra in Nigeria.

Allende, Isabel.  Forest of the Pygmies.  296 p.

          Eighteen-year-old Alexander Cold and his grandmother travel to Africa on an elephant-led safari, but discover a corrupt world of poaching and slavery.

Barnes, Virginia Lee. Aman: The Story of a Somali Girl. 336 p.

            Biography of Aman, a Somali woman, telling of her experiences in a world in which women are both chattel and freewheeling entrepreneurs, subject to the whims of male relatives, yet aware of the loopholes that lead to freedom 

Courtenay, Bruce.  The Power of One.  513 p.

          The story of Peekay, an English boy living in South Africa during World War II who learns about prejudice and slavery through friendship.

Dangarembga, Tsitsi.  Nervous Conditions: a novel.   204 p.

          A young woman in colonial Rhodesia tells the story of her family and their life of hardship and poverty in the ghetto during the colonization of her people.

Ellis, Deborah.  The Heaven Shop.  178 p.

          Binti and her siblings are orphaned when their father dies of AIDS. Split up and sent to relatives all over Malawi, they suffer increasing hardship until they are reunitied through the influence of their formidable grandmother.

Emecheta, Buchi. The Bride Price. 168 p.

          The love story of Aku-nna, a young Ibo girl, and Chike, the son of a prosperous former slave.

Farmer, Nancy.  A Girl Named Disaster.  309 p.

          While fleeing from Mozambique to Zimbabwe to escape an unwanted marriage, Nhamo, an eleven-year-old Shona girl, struggles to escape drowning and starvation and in so doing comes close to the luminous world of the African spirits.

Glass, Linzi.  The Year the Gypsies Came.  254 p.

            In Johannesburg, South Africa, in the late 1960s, twelve-year-old Emily, who longs for affection from her quarreling parents, finds comfort in the stories of a Zulu servant and in her friendship with a young houseguest who has an equally troubled family

Greene, Graham.  The Heart of the Matter.  255 p.

          Scobie, an assistant police commissioner in World War II West Africa, known for his high principles and devotion to family and duty, experiences a crisis of character and faith when he falls in love with a nineteen-year-old widow.

Hamilton, Masha.  The Camel Bookmobile. 308 p.

            Librarian Fiona Sweeney decides she will help mankind by heading a bookmobile in a remote region of northeastern Kenya and encounters a culture she struggles to understand and resistance from community members who want to preserve their traditions.

Hearn, Lian.  Grass for His Pillow.  343 p.

            The orphan Takeo has been claimed by the Tribe and held against his will, forced to work as an assassin and leave behind his beloved Shirakawa, leading him to fight for his freedom, even if it may cost him his life.

Iweala, Uzodinma.  Beasts of No Nation.  142 p.

          Agu, a young boy in a n unnamed West African nation, is discovered by guerrilla fighters after his mother and sister escape and his father is brutally murdered, and is forced into becoming a soldier at the mercy of a treacherous terrorist leader. 

Jansen, Hanna.  Over a Thousand Hills I Walk With You.  332 p.

            Jeanne, the only member of her family not murdered in the Rwandan genocide, struggles to start a new life without her family while coping with the violent memories that haunt her.

Kessler, Cristina.  Our Secret, Siri Dang.  212 p.

          Namelok, a Masai girl, tries to persuade her traditionalist father to delay her initiation and marriage because they will restrict her freedom and keep her from the black rhino mother and baby she is protecting from poachers.     

Magona, SindiWe.  Mother to Mother. 210 p.

            A novel based upon the murder of Fulbright scholar Amy Elizabeth Biehl in which the fictitious mother of the killer examines the life and world of her son in the black township of Guguletu, South Africa.

Mankell, Henning.  Secrets of the Fire.  166 p.

          Presents a fact-based novel that explores the experiences of Sofia, a young girl from southern Africa who must struggle to rebuild her life after losing her legs in a land mine explosion.

Matar, Hisham.  In the Country of Men. 246 p.

            A novel about the love and relationship between nine-year-old Suleiman and his mother in the midst of the political turmoil of Libya under the dictatorship of Qaddafi in the 1970s.

Mda, Zakes.  The Heart of Redness.  277 p.

Camagu returns to Johannesburg for the first time since leaving for America during apartheid, and while he is there, he finds himself drawn into the heritage and future of his descendants.

Mwangi, Meja.  The Mzungu Boy.  148 p.

          Kariuki's life in a small village in central Kenya seems to be one grand adventure, and when he meets a young boy from England, he learns the world is full of even more adventures and challenges.

Naidoo, Beverley.  Chain of Fire.  242 p.

          When the villagers of Bophelong are forced to leave their houses and resettle in a barren "homeland," thirteen-year-old Naledi and her schoolmates organize an anti-removal march through their village.

Nazer, Mende. Slave: my true story. 335 p.

          The author provides an account of her experiences after being kidnapped from her Nuba village in 1993 by Arab raiders when she was twelve years old and sold into slavery, and discusses how she was able to gain her freedom seven years later while living and working for her master's sister in London.

Paton, Alan.  Cry, The Beloved Country.  316 p.

          A novel of the human suffering caused by the racial conflict in South Africa.

Quintana, Anton.  The Baboon King.  183 p.

          Son of a Kikuyu mother and a Masai herdsman father, Morengáru the hunter lives on the edges of tribal society until an actual banishment forces him to make a life for himself among a troop of baboons

Stolz, Joelle.  The Shadows of Ghadames.  118 p.

          At the end of the nineteenth century in Libya, eleven-year-old Malika simultaneously enjoys and feels constricted by the narrow world of women, but an injured stranger enters her home and disrupts the traditional order of things.

Stratton, Alan.  Chanda’s Secrets.  193 p.

          South African sixteen-year-old Chanda Kabelo struggles to deal with the AIDS epidemic that is affecting several members of her family.

Wein, Elizabeth.  The Lion Hunter. 223 p.

          After losing his arm in a lion attack, Telemakos--the half-Ethiopian grandson of King Arthur--takes care of his infant sister and lives with Abreha, a family enemy turned friend who Telemakos was warned to watch carefully.

Zephaniah, Benjamin.  Refugee Boy.  291 p.

          Fourteen-year-old Alem Kelo adjusts to life as a foster child seeking asylum in London, while his Eritrean mother and Ethiopian father work for peace between their homelands in Africa.

Japan:

Clavell, James.  Shogun.  1152 p.

            Shipwrecked English adventurer, John Blackthorn, finds himself a key figure in a vast power struggle that is to plunge medieval Japan into civil war. Set in the exotic world of Oriental intrigue, passions, discipline, courage, and rigid moral and martial codes.

Dalkey, Kara.  Little Sister.  200 p.

          Thirteen-year-old Fujiwara no Mitsuko, daughter of a noble family in the imperial court of twelfth century Japan, enlists the help of a shape-shifter and other figures from Japanese mythology in her efforts to save her older sister's life.

Endo, Shusaku.  The Samurai.  272 p.

          Rokuemon Hasekura, a seventeenth-century Japanese warrior, is chosen to be an envoy to the Viceroy of Mexico and Pope Paul V. But when he returns home after a four-year journey, he finds that his country's political views have shifted and that Japanese leaders are trying to rid the country of all Western influences.

Golden, Arthur.  Memoirs of a Geisha: a Novel. 434 p.

          Go behind the rice-paper screen of the geisha house to a vanished floating world of beauty and cruelty, from a poor fishing village in 1929 to the decade of the 1940s.

Gratz, Alan. Samurai Shortstop.  271 p.

            While obtaining a Western education at a prestigious Japanese boarding school in 1890, sixteen-year-old Toyo also receives traditional samurai training which has profound effects on both his baseball game and his relationship with his father.

Hearn, Lian.  The Harsh Cry of the Heron. 506 p.

            Lord Otori Takeo battles intruders and assassins from far and wide and struggles with the prophecy that he will die by the hand of one of his family members.

Hoobler, Dorothy and Thomas.  In Darkness, Death.  195 p.

          In eighteenth-century Japan, young Seikei becomes involved with a ninja as he helps Judge Ooka, his foster father, investigate the murder of a samurai.

Hoobler, Dorothy and Thomas.  Demon in the Teahouse.  181 p.

          In eighteenth-century Japan, fourteen-year-old Seikei, a merchant's son in training to be a samurai, helps his patron investigate a series of murders and arson in the capital city of Edo, each of which is associated in some way with a popular geisha.

Hoobler, Dorothy and Thomas.  A Samurai Never Fears Death.  198 p.

            Returning home to investigate the possible connection of his family's tea shop with smugglers, Seikei, now a samauri in eighteenth-century Japan, becomes involved in murder at a local puppet theater and saving the life of his sister's accused boyfriend.

Ishiguro, Kazuo.  An Artist of the Floating World.  206 p.

          A portrait of a Japanese artist who put his painting to work in the service of the movement that led Japan into World War II.

Mori, Kyoko.  One Bird.  242 p.

          After her mother abandons them, fifteen-year-old Megumi tries to understand her father's need for his mistress while dealing with her own aching isolation.

Mori, Kyoko. Shizuko’s Daughter. 208 p.

          After Yuki's mother commits suicide, the 12-year-old girl must live with her distant father and his resentful new wife. Cut off from her mother's family, Yuki learns to rely on her own inner strength to cope with the tragedy. 

Namioka, Lensey. The Samurai and the Long-Nosed Devils. 203 p.

          During a warlord's drive to unify Japan, two unemployed samurai become bodyguards to a group of foreigners being harassed by the warlord's enemies.

Paterson, Katherine.  Of Nightingales That Weep.  170 p.

            The vain young daughter of a samurai finds her comfortable life ripped apart when opposing warrior clans begin a struggle for imperial control of Japan.

Shea, Robert. Shike: Time of the Dragons Last of the Zinja. 702 p.

          Set in Ancient Japan, elements of fantasy.

Tsukiyama, Gail.  The Samurai’s Garden. 211 p.

            On the eve of World War II a young Chinese man is sent to his family's summer home in Japan to recover from tuberculosis. His own adventure becomes entwined with the lives of three people he meets there.

Watkins, Yoko Kawashima.  So Far From the Bamboo Grove.  183 p.

          A fictionalized autobiography in which eleven-year-old Yoko escapes from Korea to Japan with her mother and sister at the end of World War II.

Yoshimoto, Banana.  Goodbye Tsugumi.  186 p.

            Maria, the only daughter of an unmarried woman, and her cousin Tsugumi, a lifelong invalid, face the end of their childhoods and a future of change when they spend a last summer together at the seaside inn of Tsugumi's parents.

Yumoto, Kazumi.  The Letters.  165 p.

          In Japan, the death of her former landlady triggers a young woman's memories about her father's death when she was six years old, and the special way the old lady helped her to cope with the loss.

The Middle East:

Amirrezvani, Anita.  The Blood of Flowers.  368 p.

          The death of her father leads a teenage girl in seventeenth-century Iran to go live with her mother as a servant in the home of her uncle, a wealthy rug designer in the court of the Shah, where she is able to develop her talent for rug design--a skill that becomes vital to her survival after her lack of a dowry forces her into a contract marriage, renewable every three months, with the son of a horse trader.

Clinton, Cathryn. A Stone in My Hand. 184 p.

            Eleven-year-old Malaak and her family are touched by the violence in Gaza between Jews and Palestinians when first her father disappears and then her older brother is drawn to the Islamic Jihad.

Gormley, Beatrice. Salome.  274 p.

          Relates the life of a beautiful descendant of Herod the Great, and events leading up to her Dance of the Seven Veils, after which her cruel mother coerces her to ask for the head of John the Baptist, an innocent man, on a silver platter.

Jolin, Paula.  In the Name of God. 208 p.

          Determined to follow the laws set down in the Qur'an, seventeen-year-old Nadia becomes involved in a violent revolutionary movement aimed at supporting Muslim rule in Syria and opposing the Western politics and materialism that increasingly affect her family.

Kashua, Sayed.  Let It Be Morning.  271 p.

            A disillusioned journalist returns to his Arab village in Israel hoping to find peace and simplicity with his family, but when Israeli tanks surround the village, he must help his family find safety before their world is blown apart.

Mason, Prue. Camel Rider. 204 p.

            Two expatriates living in a Middle Eastern country, twelve-year-old Adam from Australia and Walid from Bangladesh, must rely on one another when war breaks out and they find themselves in the desert, both trying to reach the same city with no water, little food, and no common language.

Matar, Hisham.  In the Country of Men. 246 p.

            A novel about the love and relationship between nine-year-old Suleiman and his mother in the midst of the political turmoil of Libya under the dictatorship of Qaddafi in the 1970s.

Mead, Alice. Dawn and Dusk. 151 p.

          As thirteen-year-old Azad tries desperately to cling to the life he has known, the political situation in Iran during the war with Iraq finally forces his family to flee their home and seek safety elsewhere.

Ramadan, Tariq.  In the Footsteps of the Prophet.  216 p.

          Chronicles the life of the Prophet Muhammad, focusing on his spiritual and ethical teachings, and exploring the events and people that shaped his life and beliefs.

Rogerson, Barnaby.  The Prophet Muhammad.  224p.

          Explores the life and times of the prophet Muhammad, describing sixty-century Arabia where he was born, his early years, the night he Archangel Gabriel appeared before him, his escape to Medina, and other related topics.

Sacco, Joe.  Palestine.  281 p.

            An American journalist travels to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to learn the Palestinian side of the Intifada. Presented in black-and-white graphic novel form. Contains adult content.

Satrapi, Marjane.  Persepolis 2.  187 p.

          Contains black-and-white comic strip images in which the author continues the story of her life, discussing her move from Iran to Vienna in 1984, her feelings of alienation in the foreign country, and her return home where she starts college, falls in love, and questions whether she can continue to live in the repressive society.

Sayres, Nuttall Meghan.  Anahita’s Woven Riddle.  346 p.

Souad.  Burned Alive. 225 p.

The author provides an account of her experiences as the victim of an honor crime, telling how her brother-in-law, tried to kill her for having sex before marriage by dousing her with gasoline and setting her on fire, and sharing the story of how she survived with the help of the women of her West Bank village, and the intervention of a European aid worker.

Stolz, Joelle.  The Shadows of Ghadames.  118 p.

          At the end of the nineteenth century in Libya, eleven-year-old Malika simultaneously enjoys and feels constricted by the narrow world of women, but an injured stranger enters her home and disrupts the traditional order of things.

Zenatti, Valerie. When I Was a Soldier.  235 p.

Presents the memoirs of Valerie Zenatti, who at eighteen, enlisted in the Israeli army, endured harsh conditions and surroundings, and participated in top secret missions for the Israeli Secret Service, and describes her French-Jewish heritage and personal struggles.

Southeast Asia:

Crew, Linda. Children of the River. 213 p.

            Having fled Cambodia four years earlier to escape the Khmer Rouge army, seventeen-year-old Sundara is torn between remaining faithful to her own people and adjusting to life in her Oregon high school as a "regular" American.

Garland, Sherry. Song of the Buffalo Boy. 282 p.

            Shunned and mistreated because of her mixed heritage, and determined to avoid an arranged marriage, seventeen-year-old Loi runs away to Ho Chi Minh City with the hope that she and the boy she loves will be able to go to the United States to find her American father.

Ho, Minfong. Rice Without Rain.  236 p.

          After social rebels convince the headman of a small village in northern Thailand to resist the land rent, his seventeen-year-old daughter Jinda finds herself caught up in the student uprising in Bangkok.

Ho, Minfong.  The Stone Goddess. 201 p.

          After the Communists take over Cambodia and her family is torn from their city life, twelve-year-old Nakri and her older sister attempt to maintain their hope as well as their classical dancing skills in the midst of their struggle to survive.

Lawton, David. A Lovely Country. 260 p.

          In this very different novel about the Vietnam War, Giles Trent, is a civilian adviser to the American-run pacification program near the end of the war. He's been in the country for four years, because Vietnam is his "first love.”

Ung, Loung. First They Killed My Father. 238 p.

            Loung Ung, one of seven children of a high-ranking government official in Phnom Penh, tells of her experiences after her family was forced to flee from Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge army, discussing her training as a child soldier in a work camp for orphans, and telling of how her surviving siblings were eventually reunited.